Paul Westeneng

Paul Westeneng (Twitter: paulwest) is Senior Consultant at PulseOn (http://www.pulseon.nl), the unique learning platform that allows every student to learn in his or her own way, at a self-directed pace, with content that meets each student’s unique needs, interests and learning preferences. He is also the founder of learn2grow, supporting innovative learning solutions.

I spent more than 5 years in public school classrooms, both urban and suburban, and while I saw a lot of educators working their behinds off and engaging kids in valuable, essential learning, I also saw a lot of kids that were disenchanted by what school had to offer. After years in the public school system, many of the students that need school the worst had been taught one irrevocable truth: learning was not for them. And not just because school was too hard or too easy, but because it was often at odds with their interests and desires.

And then, in just the past few months, I’ve had my eyes opened to the world of schooling that happens beyond the walls of the traditional brick and mortar education. Suddenly, I saw living rooms, parks, co-ops, libraries, churches, and community centers as steady, stimulating learning environments. I saw parents confidently addressing the educational needs of their children without necessarily having the formal training to do so (my good friend, Becky, is among them). I saw how certain learning methods and perspectives could yield the type of student that regularly scores above the national average on an array of standardized tests and feels empowered as a lifelong learner. But what exactly were these families able to do that was so different? And what could we as public educators borrow from these homeschool classrooms–or any non-traditional or informal learning environment–that would be of benefit in our own? Here are the five things that stand out.

The integration of information technology into our unique learning environments can be greatly enhanced if we apply constructivist approaches. Such approaches could include, but are not limited to discovery learning, inquiry based learning, play-based learning and making. But they also include listening, reflecting, and taking the time to process. Essentially, we want our learners to become great thinkers. We want learners to take an active role in the learning process and move away from the passive regurgitation of information being passed from a teacher to a student. Effective infusion of information technology into our learning environments is an excellent way to achieve this.

In our world, information technology is not just a means to an end. It more about the information and how we use it that is the most important. How to find it, how to process it, how to use it, and how to build on it. The technology we use facilitates and re-shapes this use of information in many new ways. For instance, no longer are we following learning in a linear fashion, say, based on a textbook. Rather, we are working in flexible frameworks where learners can focus on big ideas, but follow their learning along multiple paths happening all at once in the learning environment.

Informational technology needs to be holistically integrated into our learning environments. The integration of information technology into our unique learning environments can be greatly enhanced if we apply constructivist approaches. Such approaches could include, but are not limited to discovery learning, inquiry based learning, play-based learning and making. But they also include listening, reflecting, and taking the time to process. Essentially, we want our learners to become great thinkers. We want learners to take an active role in the learning process and move away from the passive regurgitation of information being passed from a teacher to a student. Effective infusion of information technology into our learning environments is an excellent way to achieve this.

In our world, information technology is not just a means to an end. It more about the information and how we use it that is the most important. How to find it, how to process it, how to use it, and how to build on it. The technology we use facilitates and re-shapes this use of information in many new ways. For instance, no longer are we following learning in a linear fashion, say, based on a textbook. Rather, we are working in flexible frameworks where learners can focus on big ideas, but follow their learning along multiple paths happening all at once in the learning environment.

Informational technology needs to be holistically integrated into our learning environments. The integration of information technology into our unique learning environments can be greatly enhanced if we apply constructivist approaches. Such approaches could include, but are not limited to discovery learning, inquiry based learning, play-based learning and making. But they also include listening, reflecting, and taking the time to process. Essentially, we want our learners to become great thinkers. We want learners to take an active role in the learning process and move away from the passive regurgitation of information being passed from a teacher to a student. Effective infusion of information technology into our learning environments is an excellent way to achieve this.

In our world, information technology is not just a means to an end. It more about the information and how we use it that is the most important. How to find it, how to process it, how to use it, and how to build on it. The technology we use facilitates and re-shapes this use of information in many new ways. For instance, no longer are we following learning in a linear fashion, say, based on a textbook. Rather, we are working in flexible frameworks where learners can focus on big ideas, but follow their learning along multiple paths happening all at once in the learning environment.

Informational technology needs to be holistically integrated into our learning environments. The integration of information technology into our unique learning environments can be greatly enhanced if we apply constructivist approaches. Such approaches could include, but are not limited to discovery learning, inquiry based learning, play-based learning and making. But they also include listening, reflecting, and taking the time to process. Essentially, we want our learners to become great thinkers. We want learners to take an active role in the learning process and move away from the passive regurgitation of information being passed from a teacher to a student. Effective infusion of information technology into our learning environments is an excellent way to achieve this.

In our world, information technology is not just a means to an end. It more about the information and how we use it that is the most important. How to find it, how to process it, how to use it, and how to build on it. The technology we use facilitates and re-shapes this use of information in many new ways. For instance, no longer are we following learning in a linear fashion, say, based on a textbook. Rather, we are working in flexible frameworks where learners can focus on big ideas, but follow their learning along multiple paths happening all at once in the learning environment.

Whether it’s Minecraft or duct tape wallets, the childhood passions that seem like fads, if not totally unproductive, can alternatively be seen as mediums for experiencing the virtuous cycle of curiosity: discovering, trying, failing and growing. At DIY, we’ve created a way for kids to explore hundreds of skills and to understand the ways in which they can be creative through them. Often, the skills are unconventional, and almost always the results are surprising. I don’t think it’s important that kids use the skills they learn on DIY for the rest of their lives. What’s important is that kids develop the muscle to be fearless learners so that they are never stuck with the skills they have. Only this will prepare them for a world where change is accelerating and depending on a single skill to provide a lifetime career is becoming impossible.

This is something I feel to be important for any business. Currently at my job position was tasked with creating an infographic and got completely lost. I think making sure your information is visually pleasing is extremely important for getting your point across.

If we want to transform the failing model, we need a new analogy for how that model is supposed to work, Robinson argues. We treat education like industrial manufacturing when, in reality, it's closer to organic farming. In farming, crop has different needs at different times in order to produce the greatest yield. Why not apply the process to education?

He is correct, schools are not factories that create duplicate models of a prototype. Schools are also not a business, where the latest organizational model makes the system effective. Schools are more like a community, where everyone works together to accomplish the goals developed collaboratively by all stakeholders in the community. Notice that state and federal politicians are not in the community.

Such debate about the place and purpose of online searching in learning and assessments is not new. But rather than thinking of ways to prevent students from cheating or plagiarising in their assessed pieces of work, maybe our obsession with the “authenticity” of their coursework or assessment is missing another important educational point.

"When the technology integration coach in my school district handed me a copy of The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game by Lee Sheldon, I was enthralled. The book was an easy read— cover to cover in just a few days. Lee Sheldon’s students are learning content through game play. College level coursework with students enrolled in a class devoted to designing video games."

I was 11 the year my summer camp director transformed the regular schedule, procedures, and lingo that we were used to—into the most memorable, enriching experience I had ever encountered at that point in my life.

I had no idea that he had ‘gamified’ the week; I just knew that it was the best summer ever. Instead of grouping us by numbers, we were named after the Greek alphabet. We competed daily against the other groups in volleyball, softball, kickball, and on the final night —a chariot and Olympic flame opened an epic Olympic Game contest at midnight.

The director, or ‘game master’ as we were inclined to call him, even made everyone reset the clocks and watches—so we never knew what the real time was, the entire schedule was set on some sort of crazy alternate schedule. Now I realize that it probably allowed him to sleep in and us to stay up later, but we were none the wiser.

Daily we played games, wrote skits, went swimming, and competed for cleanest cabins. We did all the regular stuff, but it was more fun because there were rules and boundaries and points and collaboration and competition and a clear, mutual understanding of goals and performance and criteria for success.

As a student, I got to learn more about the power of ‘gamifying’ something, and what effect it had on learners.

With gaming you get to learn that there are students who are of talent sitting in the class who do not respond to regular teaching tactics. In gaming you learn from your mistakes and get points for trying.

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